Is it a good idea to let the foreclosures roll on? A lot more than that, say the banking and mortgage industries, among others. “Home repo” is critical to economic recovery, they argue. Stopping foreclosures would cut the legs off a still-wobbly rebound. In the industry’s view, the fewer foreclosures, the fewer resales; the […]
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News updates or analysis.
Attacking Public Employees: Will New York Lead?
As in other states, New York’s new governor has focused attention on the state’s budget woes: revenues insufficient to cover expenditures. His major response has been to blame public employees and their unions as if their pay, benefits, and especially pensions were chief causes of the problem. He loudly demands they “share the burden” of […]
They Don’t Make Them Like They Used To! Why Even the Best Post-war Economist Ended Up a Tragic Figure
The Crash of 2008 and its ghastly aftermath was not just an economic crisis but also a crisis aided and abetted by economics. Previously I have written about the Econobubble (the handmaiden of the “real” Bubble) and the toxic theories of economists who were very recently rewarded with the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics. Following […]
Contrary to the New York Times’ Assertion, Japan Does Not “Face a Looming Demographic Squeeze”
Note that the labor force participation rate of women in Japan is a mere 48.5 percent, much lower than the 72.0 percent rate for men, a fact disregarded by both the New York Times and Dean Baker. — Ed. For some reason the New York Times wants to scare its readers about Japan’s economic situation, […]
Sago Mine Disaster
Five years ago today, an explosion rocked the Sago mine in Upshur County, West Virginia. Twelve miners died; miners’ families were led on a horrific emotional roller-coaster ride during which they were told that their trapped fathers, husbands, brothers, uncles, and in-laws had been found alive (only to find out, hours later, that only one […]
Vital Space
Dear Friends, On this New Year’s Day we are launching Vital Space — an NGO and website that intends to cast an artistic eye on the great issues of our troubled age. Instead of another empty New Year’s resolution, we decided to take the initiative of creating a platform from which we can all (you, […]
Morales Repeals Decree Raising Fuel Prices
Bolivian President Evo Morales repealed on Friday night the decree issued five days ago to raise gasoline prices, after a meeting with his cabinet, trade unions, and social organizations in La Paz.
To Private Manning
To Private Manning, sent to jail for exposing war criminals. . . . Eneko Las Heras, born in Caracas in 1963, is a cartoonist based in Spain. This cartoon was first published on his blog . . . Y sin embargo se mueve on 27 October 2010. Translation by Yoshie Furuhashi (@yoshiefuruhashi | yoshie.furuhashi [at] […]
Bolivia Raises Fuel Prices to Protect Economy and Stop Subsidizing Smugglers
The Bolivian government approved on Sunday a decree to bring fuel prices in line with regional prices, “to protect the economy and stop subsidizing smugglers,” which adjusts gasoline and diesel prices while keeping frozen the prices of liquefied petroleum gas and vehicular natural gas. At a press conference, Vice President Álvaro García Linera, temporarily […]
WMG, Motorola, and YouTube: Censoring Palestinian Solidarity Flash Mob Video
December 22, 2010 Dancing and singing to a parody of Lady Gaga and Beyoncé’s “Telephone,” more than forty members and friends of the St Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee (STL-PSC) serenaded holiday shoppers at Best Buy and AT&T stores in Brentwood, MO. They urged patrons to join the boycott of Motorola products because of the […]
The President and the Climate: Reflections on Progressive Obama Delusion and a Curious Line in Bill McKibben’s Eaarth
Just what did Barack Obama and his spinners do to the critical faculties of so many leading American progressives? Some of my regular readers might be surprised to know that I often bring a significant measure of disinclination to my recurrent radical criticism of President Barack Obama and his “progressive” defenders. The reluctance stems […]
West Sea Crisis in Korea
Contested Waters: Background to a Crisis 1. On November 23, 2010, military troops from the Republic of Korea (ROK, or South Korea) and the United States conducted war-simulation exercises, dubbed “Hoguk” [“Defend the State”], a massive joint endeavor involving 70,000 soldiers, 600 tanks, 500 warplanes, 90 helicopters, and 50 warships. It was slated to […]
It’s Sandy Pope vs. Hoffa Jr. for Teamster President
December 14, 2010 We did it! Teamsters across the country hit the pavement and collected the signatures we needed to accredit our campaign for General President. The election rules required that we turn in 33,437 signatures. Our goal was 40,000. Today, our campaign turned in more than 50,000 signatures to the Election Supervisor. It […]
Israel and the Iranian Opposition
On Sunday, 12 December, the Iran Committee organized a demonstration in Amsterdam against “human rights violations” in Iran. This committee was initiated by the Centre for Information and Documentation about Israel (CIDI), which is an influential pro-Israel lobby. The leadership of this committee consists of right-wing politicians, Christian fundamentalists, anti-Muslim racists, and unfortunately a […]
Egyptian Elections and US Foreign Policy
Reed Lindsay: It’s election day in Egypt, the second round of parliamentary balloting. But in this working-class suburb of Cairo, few people seem to care. “There are no free and fair elections. All the opposition parties withdrew. A lot of us are unemployed. So why should we vote?” “All we are seeing is corruption, […]
A Transfer of National Debt to the ECB and a European New Deal
Summary Cutting debt, deficits and wages poses a major crisis for both European governments and the European project. The ETUC calls for a twin strategy to stabilise the current crisis by (1) transferring a major share of national debt to the ECB and for (2) net European bond issues to finance the European Economic […]
Letter to President Mahmoud Abbas
To His Excellency Mahmoud Abbas President of the Palestinian National Authority Mr. President, I have carefully read the letter of 24 November, by which Your Excellency asks Brazil to recognize the Palestinian state on the 1967 borders. As Your Excellency knows, Brazil has historically advocated, particularly under my government, the achievement of the legitimate […]
Open and Shut: The Case of the Honduran Coup
Reference ID Date Classification Origin 09TEGUCIGALPA645 2009- 07-24 00:12 CONFIDENTIAL Embassy Tegucigalpa VZCZCXYZ0000 OO RUEHWEB DE RUEHTG #0645/01 2050023 ZNY CCCCC ZZH O 240023Z JUL 09 FM AMEMBASSY TEGUCIGALPA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0237 INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS IMMEDIATE 0735 RHEHAAA/THE WHITE HOUSE WASHDC IMMEDIATE RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC IMMEDIATE RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON […]
Arresting Latinos for Marijuana in California: Possession Arrests in 33 Cities, 2006-08
Highlights: In the last twenty years, California made 850,000 arrests for possessing small amounts of marijuana, and half a million arrests in the last ten years, disproportionately of young Latinos and blacks. U.S. government surveys consistently find that young Latinos use marijuana at lower rates than young whites. Yet from 2006 through 2008, major […]
French Trade Unions: Going All the Way or Just Going Along to Get Along?
One of the key elements of the current new movement against the retirement reform is the unity of trade unions, which has so far survived. This unity of trade union leadership is perceived by a large section of workers, as well as by the population in general, as an asset, a fulcrum of the […]
